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We love to grow, cook and eat plant foods that will nourish both body and soul. Come inside our kitchen and pick up some vegan recipes, nutrition facts, health tips and information on how to live a more cruelty-free lifestyle, spiced with a sprinkling of Vedic wisdom from ancient India.

Archana of The Mad Scientist's Kitchen, and Pari, creator of "Only" series on her blog Foodelicious have made and hosted this great event, "Only Street Food of the World" which promises to showcase some diverse and fascinating cuisines to enrich our culinary vocabularies- in other words, I'm really looking forward to learning some new stuff come the roundup, and I'm proud to have this as my first post of 2013/ last post of 2012 (depending on where in the world you are)! My contribution is this delicious sandwich from Vietnam, which blends South East Asian and European traditions due to Vietnam's French colonial history.

Fresh raw veg makes this a healthy snack choice

Add generous amounts of everything to your sandwich!

I should say something about the history of this street food; actually, this now world- famous sandwich is more likely to be found in its vegetarian/ vegan version being given out in Buddhist temples on festival days rather than on the street, (usually it's made with meat) but in an alternative universe where everyone is vegetarian, this would definitely be a popular street snack too. I chose seitan as the protein here, but I have heard it is also very good with tofu. Banh mi is made with baguette and mayonnaise, which were introduced to Vietnam by the French. (I would have preferred to use wholemeal bread, but I couldn't get any on the day I made this.) I made my mayo with tofu rather than egg, and I have used Korean kimchi as the vegetable pickle which I think lends itself very well to this sandwich, so my version of banh mi is truly a fusion dish. You can add any salty, spicy vegetable-based pickle you wish- matchstick raw veggies and chilli in miso is one idea that's in keeping with the banh mi's oriental roots..

This recipe serves 4 people, and needn't take long if you have made or bought the seitan and tofu in advance:

1 long baguette/ French stick, cut into 4 pieces which are then sliced lengthways